With contributions by Sarah Adamson, Denise Alien, Joanna Bird, Nigel Brown, Brenda Dickinson, Jennifer Foster, Val Fryer, Rowena Gale, Brian Gilmore, Stephen Greep, Kay Hartley, Martin Henig, Robin Holgate, Alison Locker, Malcolm Lyne, Don Mackreth, Richard Macphail, Simon Mays, Peter Murphy, Peter Northover, Richard Reece, Valery Rigby, James Steele, Isobel Thompson, David Williams, David W. Williams and Patricia Wiltshire.
The discovery of a rich aristocratic burial at Folly Lane, St. Albans, has thrown new light on the early history of the Roman town. The evidence recovered for the elaborate rituals surrounding the burial, and the sacred area in which it was located, has also given an insight into Verulamium as a cult centre, the precursor of the later city of St. Albans.
Author(s): Rosalind Niblett
Series: Britannia Monograph Series, 14
Publisher: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies
Year: 1999
Language: English
Pages: 486
City: London
List of Plates
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Contributors
Acknowledgements
Summary
PART I: THE EXCAVATIONS - PERIODS 1-4
Period 1: Prehistoric Occupation
Period 2: Pre-Roman Iron Age Occupation
Period 3: The Ceremonial Enclosure
The Central Shaft and its Associated Structures
The Ceremonial Enclosure in Period 3: Interpretation and Discussion
Periods 4 and 5: The Romano-Celtic Temple
PART II: THE LOWER SLOPE, SOUTH-WEST OF THE CEREMONIAL ENCLOSURE
The Roads
The Cemeteries
The Shafts
Industrial Activity
Evidence for Occupation and Agricultural Use in the Late Roman Period
PART III: THE EXCAVATED MATERIAL
The Artefacts: Periods 1 and 2
The Funerary Finds
The Pottery from the Funerary Shaft and Burial Pit
The Small Finds from the Lower Slope
The Pottery from the Lower Slope
The Stamped and Selected Unstamped Mortaria
The Samian Potters' Stamps
The Decorated Samian
The Plain Samian from the Lower Slope
The Amphorae from the Lower Slope
The Saxon Pottery
The Ceramic Evidence for a Temple/Theatre/Bath House Complex at Verulamium
The Pattern of Pottery Supply to the Folly Lane Site
The Evidence from Assemblage Quantifications for Types of Activity at Folly Lane
The Human Bone
The Animal Bone
PART IV: THE ENVIRONMENTAL EVIDENCE
Palynological Analysis of Filling in the Funerary Shaft
Soil Micromorphology and Diatom Analysis of Thin Sections and Microchemical Analysis of Polished Blocks
The Plant Macrofossils
Report on Charcoal Samples from the Burial Pit and Funerary Shaft
PART V: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
The Folly Lane burial rite
Folly Lane and Pre-Roman Verlamion
Folly Lane and Roman Verulamium
APPENDIX 1: Geophysical Survey: Summary of the Results
APPENDIX 2: The Copper Alloy Owl
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
